Kuranosuke Shiraishi
Background Kuranosuke Shiraishi (白石蔵ノ介, Shiraishi Kuranosuke) is the Captain of Shitenhōji. He is heralded as having 'Perfect Tennis', and is referred to as 'The Bible of Shitenhōji'. His skills are so great that when he was only in his second year he was was playing singles 1. That same year, when faced against Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku in the Nationals semi-finals, Shitenhoji gave the eventual repeat champions their toughest match of the entire tournament. Though Shiraishi is the captain of Shitenhoji, many believe that the legendary Chitose Senri is stronger. However, between the two, Tezuka believed Shiraishi was the one to be more frightened of. Coincidentally, while Shiraishi believes Fuji is No. 2 in Seigaku behind Tezuka, Chitose believes Fuji is scarier than Tezuka. Appearance Shiraishi has extremely light brown (silver-brown) hair that is medium length, and his eyes are a greyish-brown. He also wears elbow-length white bandages over his left arm, which a golden gauntlet he recieved from his previous coach as a gift. Personality He is first introduced when the representatives of every team that will compete at the National Tournament gathered. His personality and profile are shrouded in mystery, and very little detail is available on him as of the present. The biggest reason for this is that in the previous year, he had placed himself in the Singles 1 match against Rikkai Dai, and didn't get to play when Shitenhōji was swept. Though he's famous for having 'Perfect Tennis', Shiraishi himself believes that perfect tennis is silly. However, when his team lost in the previous Nationals, Shiraishi realized that no matter how you play, all that mattered in the end was winning the match. As the captain of his team, he had to bring them victory, even if he had to play using the skills he felt are boring. It is revealed that, underneath the bandages on his left arm, he wears a gold gauntlet that was given to him by Osamu. He has worn it since his freshmen year and promised Osamu not to take it off till graduation, but had to break that promise to keep his new promise to Yanagi. Shiraishi is also known to be the only person who can placate or appease Kintarō Tōyama, the youngest and wildest member of their team. It is apparent in the manga that Kintarō, also known as Kin-chan, has a very peculiar and strong imagination, and ever since he read a manga about monsters with poison claws, he's been irrationally and childishly (albeit seriously) afraid of Shiraishi, who claims that he has poisonous claws underneath his bandaged arm. He is known for saying Ahhh...Ecstasy. Shiraishi is quite fond of his pet beetle, Kaburiel (or Gabriel), as shown in the New Prince of Tennis OVA 1. History Two Years Prior To The Storyline Shiraishi's tennis coach Osamu Watanabe arrives and gives him a golden arm weight to wear, telling him not to remove it until his graduation of Shitenhoji. Shiraishi was a first year along with Oshitari Kenya and others. Taira Yoshiyuki was the captain of the club. One Year Prior To The Storyline After winning the Kansai Regional Tournament, the former captain Hara Tetsuya quits the tennis club, giving Shiraishi his title. Shown in the 1st episode of the Prince of Tennis OVA: Another Story II ~The Times We Shared~, Shiraishi notices the first year Zaizen Hikaru during that semester's opening ceremony, noting that Zaizen did not laugh at the principal's joke while the rest of the school found it hilarious. The Shitenhoji tennis club members, everyone in the main series except for Kintaro who had not entered middle school yet, are told that, since the club had zero new recruits, they must recruit at least one new member or else they cannot participate in activities (in other words, they can't compete, practice, etc.). The members start panicking, but Osamu Watanabe informs Shiraishi to find the only person who did not join a club at all: Zaizen Hikaru. Since laughter is the backbone of Shitenhoji, the members of the tennis club try to get Zaizen to join by making him laugh. All of the members fail, though, until the vice captain Koishikawa Kenjirō directly asks Zaizen to join the club. Zaizen agrees, much to everyone's surprise. When he arrives, Zaizen plays a doubles game with Koishikawa, and against Shiraishi and Kenya Oshitari. However, Zaizen dominates his side of the court, returning all of Shiraishi and Kenya's shots though he claimed he had only played tennis a few times. Zaizen tells Shiraishi that his "Bible Tennis" was actually "Textbook Tennis", thus it was really predictable. He also tells Kenya that there was no point in speed if he could not control his accuracy. This shocks everyone, but Shiraishi and Kenya do not get angry. Excited, Shiraishi hits his Entaku Shot against Zaizen and the match ends. At the end of the game, Shiraishi says his saying for the first time: Ahhh...Ecstasy. The whole team laughs at Shiraishi, and surprisingly, so does Zaizen, though he claims he didn't when asked by his teammates. Zaizen officially joins the tennis team the next day, when Osamu presents him with a gift. Through this experience, it was suggested that Shiraishi was critical of how his teammates played, though they never complained. At the end of the episode after Zaizen comments on his and Kenya's playing style, Shiraishi realizes that his teammates were capable of growing without limits, and that his own passion for the basics was only hindering them, and himself. Shiraishi and Shitenhoji head to the Nationals, eventually making their way to the semi-finals where they face Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. Shitenhoji loses in straight sets to Rikkai, which means that Shiraishi, who had the spot of Singles 1, did not play, rendering his strength a mystery to the competitors of the Nationals. Kansai Regionals Shiraishi captained the Shitenhoji team as they cruised through the Kansai Regional Tournament and defeated Makinofuji in the final. Nationals As the Kansai Regional Tournament winners, Shitenhōji received a bye in the first round, advancing directly to the second round. In the second round, because it was their first official match-up, they were required to play all five matches. They easily defeat Okakura as 5-0, as shown in the databooks, advancing to the quaterfinals. Shiraishi, slotted for Singles 1, did not have to play in the Shitenhōji versus Fudomine quarter-finals as Shitenhouji won the encounter 3-0. During Singles 3 of the semi-finals, Shiraishi engaged in a long match with Fuji Shusuke. Shiraishi dominated for 5 straight games, only for Fuji to win the next 6 matches by unveiling his upgraded and new counters. The two were evenly matched during the tie break, until Fuji's lob lands just centimeteres out of the court, giving Shiraishi the win. Shiraishi and the rest of the Shitenhouji tennis club were part of the audience for the Nationals Final between Seigaku and Rikkai Dai and is shown accepting the 3rd place medal along with his teammates. Prior To U-17 Camp Shitenhouji preparing to train with Seigaku.png|Shitenhouji welcoming Seigaku to their training ground. Shiraishi, Fuji and Inui.png|Shiraishi touring Fuji and Inui through Osaka. Shiraishi about to hit.png|Shiraishi during the practice session with Seigaku. Yukishirai.jpg|Shiraishi discussing with Yukimura. YUKIMURA AND SHIRAISHI in the Rikkai garden club.jpg|Yukimura taking Shiraishi around the Rikkai garden. Shown during the Another Story OVA, Shiraishi and the rest of the Shitehoji tennis club welcome Seigaku to their school for a joint training session after the nationals. The idea was to have Seigaku produce a team without any 3rd Years against the full Shitenhouji club. Winning in this situation was, of course, an impossible task, and caused extreme tension between Kaido and Momoshiro after they, as the only regulars who weren't graduating, were put in charge. The two had a falling out, and, thus, forced them to postpone training. During the postponement time, the Shitenhouji players each took the seniors on tours through Osaka, simultaneously helping Kaido and Momo realize what it means to be a good captain. This is also when Echizen Ryoma comes back from New York, though Tezuka Kunimitsu decides to keep his return a scret from Momo and Kaido until they learn their lesson and the training camp is a success. Momo and Kaido prove that they overcame their differences and accept the responsibilites of being Seigaku's leaders the next morning during practice, and Ryoma reveals that he has returned during the long, fun rallies. Sometime also before the U-17 Camp in the PairPuri Anime, captains Shiraishi, Kippei Tachibana, Keigo Atobe, and Tezuka meet up at the Seigaku tennis club to have the Seigaku team play against the Fudomine team, and to play against each other. Shiraishi did not bring his jersey, so he did not play, but he brought Konjiki Koharu along with him because he insisted on coming (to see Akira Kamio). Shiraishi watches the game between Atobe and Tezuka, where Koharu umpires and misunderstands Atobe and Tezuka's actions. Shiraishi comments on how Koharu was lost in a different situation in response to Koharu's misunderstandings. Shiraishi is invited by the captain of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku Yukimura Seiichi to come and visit the school's Gardening Club's plants, giving him a full tour through the many gardens. ShiraishisKaburiel.png ShitenhojiBullettrainu17.png|Some of the Regulars leaving for the U-17 Camp After Seigaku leaves for Tokyo, Kenya, Zaizen, Ishida Gin, Hitoji and Konjiki are seen bowling without Shiraishi. While they are bowling, Hitoji and Konjiki note how Shiraishi had been leaving practice earlier and had been in a daze. They, along with Kenya wonder if Shiraishi has a girlfriend. Shiraishi, however, was home, alone, tending to his pet beetle Kaburiel whom he is really fond of. His younger sister Yukari Shiraishi told him that beetles can't pass the winter, shocking Shiraishi and bringing tears to his eyes. Shiraishi then tried to heat his room with the air conditioner for Kaburiel. U-17 Camp Shiraishi and the Shitenhoji regulars, excluding Hitoji, Zaizen, and Koishikawa, are invited to the Japan U-17 Camp. Shiraishi is seen reading the invitation in front of his coach Osamu just before him and the rest of his invited teammates board a bullet train to go to the camp. Whilt there, Shiraishi pairs up with Kenya, the both of them believing that they will be teaming up as a doubles pair. The head coach, however, suddenly announces that all pairs are required to have a tie-break game against each other where the winner stays in the camp and the loser is disqualified. Shiraish defeats Oshitari, albeit unhappily, and gets to stay. Oshitari is then sent to train in the mountains with all the other middle schoolers that lost. In the anime, during Ryoma, Kenya, and Kei's special mission for Drunken Coach, Shiraishi wakes up after Kei causes the alarm system to sound after running through the lasers. Shiraishi and Fuji are confused as to why the alarm is sounding, but they never find out that it was because of their fellow middle schoolers. Team Shuffle Shiraishi and Chitose notice it just got real when Oni wipes Momoshiro.jpg|Chitose and Shiraishi watch Oni defeat Momoshiro. Shiraishi after winning a match at the U-17 Camp.jpg|Shiraishi as he wins his match to go to the 5th Court. Ishida and Shiraishi in U-17 Camp uniform in the locker room.jpg|Gin and Shiraishi in the 5th Court Locker room. Shirahishi and Kirihara stunned to see the 2wings lose.jpg|Shiraishi, Kirihara and Atobe stunned as Tachibana and Chitose narrowly lose to Washio and Suzuki. Fuji, Yukimura and Shiraishi's room, with Shiraishi and his pet bug Kaburiel.jpg|Shiraishi taking care of his beetle, his roommates Fuji and Yukimura in the background. Shiraishi Kuranosuke and Kirihara Akaya pair saying ecstasy together.png|Shiraishi and Kirihara saying "Ecstacy" at the same time Shiraishi defeats all his high school opponents in player shuffles and makes his way to Court 5. Upon reaching the 5th Court, Shiraishi is amongst the 7 members Oni selects to take on the 3rd Court in the Team Shuffle. Shiraishi plays in Doubles 2 with Kirihara Akaya against Shinobu Miyako and Chikahiko Matsudaira. Miyako and Matsudaira jump to an early lead due to Miyako's power and Matsudaira's speed making an effective partnership. During the match, Miyako and Matsudaira taunt Kirihara to the point he gets extremely agitated and begins to lash out, entering his fearsome Devil Mode. Shiraishi attempts to stop Kirihara from using his Devil Mode by putting his hand out, however Kirihara mindlessly swings his racket forward, accidentally hitting Shiraishi's arm. Shiraishi then reveals what was hidden beneath the bandages on his left arm was a golden arm weight called a Gauntlet. Shiraishi has worn the extremely heavy weight nonstop for three straight years. With the weight removed, the speed and power of his left arm is dramatically hightened. Thanks to this, Shiraishi and Kirihara take control of the game. Eventually, Kirihara is able to bypass his Devil Mode and play sanely in Angel Mode, leading to him and Shiraishi winning. After a dramatically long encounter, the 5th Court defeated the 3rd Court, making Shiraishi a member of the 3rd Court. U-17 Camp Revolution Some time afterward, Shiraishi is with Fuji t at the courts when the 1st Stringers of the Camp arrive back from their Foreign Expedition. The two of them notice several middle schoolers are missing. They then welcome back the missing middle schoolers as it was revealed that they defeated and replaced the 1st Stringers from No.s 11-19. Shiraishi, along with other middle schoolers, challenges the other 1st Stringers. Tennis Record U-17 Camp Results Playing Styles and Techniques Entaku Shot Bible tennis.jpg Bible tennis1.jpg|The enormous amount of sidespin. Bible tennis2.jpg Bible tennis3.jpg|The spin rapidly increases. Bible tennis5.jpg|Zaizen finding it difficult to react to the immense spin of the shot. Bible tennis8.jpg The shot that inspired Kevin Smith's Illusion in the anime. Shiraishi hits a sidespin shot with the frame of the racket that causes the ball to fly in a ring formation until it hits the court without bouncing. Although in the manga the move was first shown in the Nationals, in the Nationals OVA Shiraishi uses the same stance for this move and performs it in his game against Fuji, however the scene simply skips to Shiraishi gaining the point. But it was finally shown in Another Story 2 - ~The Times We Shared~ OVA. Perfect Tennis Perfect Tennis is a style that wastes no energy at all by producing no excess or unnecessary movement, achieving the best results with each shot with very little effort. This is due to Shiraishi mastering all the fundamentals and basics through hard work and gradually being able to shape his form to the point where he can perform strokes without mannerisms or habitual actions that can lessen the use of stamina, which has a great effect in his concentration, movements, stamina, and etc. Perfect Tennis is a skilled playstyle used by Shiraishi. Instead of using named moves that are special against an attack, Shiraishi uses a variety of skilled shots to counter a move. In the game with Fuji, Shiraishi countered every attack before it evolved and was given credit to that of his skills. Due to his skilled variety of physical and technical prowess being dominant, he able to combine his I.Q. to tennis shots and make a counter towards even very hard moves. Even new moves such as Fuji's Hecatoncheires No Monban was countered by Shiraishi as he knew how to add the reverse spin with a huge topspin, later winning the match. Golden Gauntlet Two years ago, his coach, Osamu Watanabe, gave Shiraishi a golden gauntlet to wear on his left arm, "instructing" (in other words, lightly suggesting) Shiraishi to wear it until his graduation. To avoid attention, Shiraishi hid the golden gauntlet with bandages (and gave Kintaro the impression that under his bandages contained lethal poison). Since gold is 3 times heavier than lead and iron, and since Shiraishi can play normally even with the golden gauntlet on, when he takes the gauntlet off his swing speed skyrockets compared to his normal strokes. However, only the speed of his arm increases. U-17 Camp Stats *Speed: 4 *Technique: 4 *Mental: 4 *Stamina: 4 *Power: 4 Relationships Kintaro Tomoya - Shiraishi cares about Kintaro very much. He is quite protective of him often making up unusual stories just to make him behave himself. Even though he is not as strict as the other captains and can tend to spoil his 1st year kohai, he does tolerate Kintaro's personality very well and his naive nature. Fuji Syuusuke - Even though they started as rivals during the National Tournament causing Fuji to be hurt emotionally, he seems to had shared many common bonds with Fuji and sharing what they know about plants to each other. Fuji seems to have already forgiven Shiraishi for what he did to him during Nationals. Yukimura Seiichi- Shiraishi and Yukimura are very close to each other even they are from different schools they many common things with each other especially when it comes to plants Yukimura even invites Shiraishi to Rikkai's flower garden and they will give each other tips and advise in caring for plants. Personal Information *Foot Size: 27 cm *Hobbies: Chess, health exercises *Father’s Occupation: pharmacist *Spends Allowance On: Health goods *Favorite Quote: Bringing to a successful conclusion *He does not perform badly in any subject at school, and does particularly well in Chemistry. *Favorite Colors: Bright green *Favorite Foods: Cheese risotto *Favorite Movies: Korean movies *Favorite Book: Botanical books *Favorite Music: Trance *Favorite Type: One whose hair has the scent of shampoo *Favorite Date Spot: Botanical garden *Favorite Place to Visit at School: Infirmary *His favorite sports besides tennis are jogging and yoga. *Part of his daily routine is the maintenance of his bandages which takes him an hour. He does this before sleeping. *What he wants most at the moment: a full-length mirror *Daily Routine: stretching after getting out of his bath (yoga) *Things he doesn’t like: Girls who go out to hit on guys *Skills outside of Tennis: Identifying poisonous Plants Daily School Life *06:00 - Rises from bed. *06:30 - Has breakfast after his health exercises. *07:00 - Goes to school. Morning practice. *08:30 - First Period: Japanese/Essay on A, I, U, E, O *09:30 - Second Period: Society/History of Laughter. *10:40 - Third Period: Math III. *11:40 - Fouth Period: English/American Jokes. *12:30 - Lunch break: Has an extravagant* rice bowl in the cafeteria. *13:30 - Fifth Period: Chemistry/Gathering medicinal plants. *14:30 - Sixth Period: Art. *15:30 - Hitouji Yuuji's Imitation Live (gym). *16:10 - Club activities. Special technique training. *19:00 - Returns home. Dinner *19:30 - Takes a bath. *20:00 - Training. (such as stretching with his health goods) *21:00 - Writes the serial story "Poisonous Plant Bible" for the news club. *21:30 - Reads. (plant encyclopedia) *22:30 - Does maintenance on his bandages. *23:30 - Goes to bed Note from Koharu: He still has lots to work on with laughing matters! Because Kura-rin gets embarrassed...he should take the path of surrealism. Note from Zaizen: The contents are too maniacal... What's with poisonous plants? Senpai, that's too dangerous. Character Trivia *When he was a first year, he slid across the main gate of Shitenhoji. He was later praised and acknowledged by the Principal. *He was first heralded as “Bible” during the Newcomer’s Tournament during his first year in middle school. *He was made captain during the spring of his sophomore year after Hara Tetsuya retired from being captain since he got “tired of it.” Osamu made Shiraishi captain because he thought he had the highest chance of winning. *He won 2nd place in the Complete Swimsuit Eating Contest during his 2nd year in middle school (Kenya was the champion). *He’s currently serializing an article in the school newspaper called “Poisonous Plant Bible”. *His leading style is composed of letting them do what ever they want and just telling them to win but he uses the “carrot and stick” policy in raising up Kin-chan. *He is always on time and hates when others are late. *He’s currently most focused on controlling and raising up a certain super rookie. *His current biggest problem in the club is Zaizen whom he describes as a “cocky brat yet not serious genius player.” *He says he has a lot of useless things in his room but according to Kenya, he has a lot of health goods in his room and all of them are Tempur brand. *He currently knows over 200 types of poisonous plants. *He is proud of his skills in making noodles. *According to Koharu, he isn’t really good at comedy but he trains really hard at it. *During their 2nd year in middle school, the tennis club did a crossdressing café and Shiraishi, being the captain, participated in it. *Under his bandages is actually a pure gold gauntlet given to him by Osamu-chan 2 years prior to the storyline which when removed, greatly increases the speed of his left hand. *He has a pet beetle named Kaburiel whom he feeds protein jelly. Kaburiel won the “My Kabu-chan is the Best Cup” where he defeated Atobe Keigo’s King of Satan in the finals round. *Shiraishi brought Kaburiel to the U-17 training camp. *He brought plants to the camp. One of which is a Torikabuto. *He had a slump after Shitenhoji's complete defeat against Rikkai during their 2nd year but gradually got over it. *Shirashi told Tōyama Kintarō that when Oshitari Yūshi takes off his glasses, he becomes a super hero. *In Pairpuri 2, it states that the Hadokyu is ineffective against Shiraishi. Trivia *At episode 20 in the OVA, his bible skills are acknowledged by the commentators, Kikumaru Eiji and Oshitari Yūshi, when Oshitari saw Shiraishi replacing the eaten yakiniku by the uncooked ones in an instant. *In Prince of Tennis Another Story, Shiraishi stated that their school gate is hard to get into. Since he suddenly jumped up from behind Seigaku and said his favorite saying Ahhh...Ecstasy., he hit his face on the top of the gate. *In the New Prince of Tennis Manga, Shiraishi had a golden gauntlet hidden in bandages. But in the anime in Prince of Tennis after beating Fuji, there is a part where one fifth of the arm is shown to have no gauntlet on. *He was named after a Soba shop in Osaka. *In the U-17 training camp, he is in the same room as Yukimura and Fuji, RM201 and they get along really well. *Shiraishi's kanji name, 白石, in Chinese means White Stone. He was part of the soundtrack group STONES, made up of the boys with the character for "stone" in their last names. *Shiraishi's voice actor has admitted that no matter how many episodes he is required to record, he is always nervous. Gallery Shiraishi.jpeg|Shiraishi trading card Medicine or.jpeg|Medicine or..? character album Poison.jpeg|Poison character album Prayer.jpg|Prayer character song Dear Prince (KS).jpg|Dear Prince, Shiraishi version Shiraishi kuranosuke.png Kin-chan&Shiraishi.jpg Kintarou-Shiraishi.jpg Shiraishi&Kintarou.jpg Shiraishi and yukari.jpg Shiraishi age 4.jpg Shiraishi age 6.jpg Shiraishi age 1.jpg Kurobane shiraishi.jpg Npot shiraishi figure.jpg Tanjou buchou shiraishi.png Shiraishi tc2.jpg Shiraishi tc1.jpg For You (Shiraishi).jpg Shiraishi Valentine Kiss CD cover.jpg Shiraishi as the cover of some Prince of Tennis fanbook.jpg Tokugawa, Ryoma, Shiraishi and Atobe in U-17 Camp uniform.png Shiraishi in his own PE kit.jpg Ryoma and Shiraishi promo poster.jpg Kikumaru Eiji, Kite Eishiro, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, Tezuka Kunimitsu in Shin Prince of Tennis U-17 Camp Uniform.jpg Shiraishi, Oshitari Kenya Shin Prince of Tennis DVD cover.jpg Shiraishi defeating Oshitari Kenya in their tie-break.jpg Ishida and Shiraishi in U-17 Camp uniform in the locker room.jpg Shiraishi after winning a match at the U-17 Camp.jpg Shiraishi close-up.jpg Category:Characters Category:Tennis Player Category:Shitenhoji Tennis Club Member Category:Middle Schooler Category:3rd Year Middle School Category:U-17 Camp Category:Left-Handed Category:All-Rounder Category:Middle School Captain Category:Kansai Players Category:Osaka Players Category:Capable with Singles and Doubles Category:2nd Stringers